Plaintiffs

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BURBANK — The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday confirmed it is evaluating the so-called Polliwog site, an 11-acre parcel at the center of two recent lawsuits that allege the Walt Disney Co. has for decades contaminated groundwater with toxic chemicals, including cancer-causing chromium 6. “The EPA has supported and will continue to support the state’s efforts to determine what if any action to take at this site,” said...

Laura Sturza BURBANK -- Lockheed Martin Corp. will pay $1.25 million to settle a lawsuit with 40 residents who allege the company's chemical runoff contaminated Burbank water, causing illness, death and property damage. While the firm said it was able to "scientifically prove that we didn't harm anyone," Lockheed spokeswoman Gail Rymer said solvents did enter the ground water as the result of 60 years of operations. But she said "there is no cause and effect."

City department heads have been dropped from a job-discrimination lawsuit naming them as defendants. Last week, six employees -- from the assistant city manager to the Parks, Recreation and Community Services director -- were taken off a lawsuit filed last year by Deborah McMurray and Marjorie George, two city employees who alleged age, race and gender discrimination and harassment. The city of Burbank is the remaining defendant. Irma Rodriguez Moisa, the city's private attorney in the case, said McMurray and George agreed to drop the names after sanctions were threatened against their attorney.

A Burbank-based charter jet company was ordered to pay $10.2 million to the families of three people killed in a 2001 plane crash in Aspen, Colo., according to news reports. A Los Angeles civil jury awarded $8.5 million to the parents of 22-year-old woman and $1.7 million to the grandmother of two brothers, all of whom were killed in the crash. The findings also allow the plaintiffs to seek punitive damages against Avjet Corp. The Gulfstream III twin turbojet plane departed from Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport on March 29, 2001, and picked up additional passengers at Los Angeles International Airport before departing for Aspen.

MEDIA DISTRICT — A federal judge in Los Angeles refused to dismiss a lawsuit accusing Burbank-based Walt Disney Co. of polluting the surrounding area with chromium 6. U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson on Monday denied the company’s motion to dismiss the claims of Environmental World Watch and four residents who contend that the contamination violates the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Disney officials...

MEDIA DISTRICT — A federal judge in Los Angeles refused to dismiss a lawsuit accusing Burbank-based Walt Disney Co. of polluting the surrounding area with chromium 6. U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson on Monday denied the company’s motion to dismiss the claims of Environmental World Watch and four residents who contend that the contamination violates the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Disney officials...

The U.S. Supreme Court has pushed back by 10 days the date on which it will consider whether to review the issue of gay marriage in California, according to lawyers in the case. The court had been set to discuss whether to grant review of Hollingsworth vs. Perry on Nov. 20, but now says it will consider it on Friday Nov. 30, according to lawyers who represent Kris Perry and three other plaintiffs seeking to marry their partners in California. If the high court decides at that time not to grant review of the case, a federal appeals court decision striking down Proposition 8 will be made permanent, setting the stage for gay marriage to begin in California.

Ben Godar The city of Burbank has reached what officials called a nominal settlement with four current and former employees who alleged they were the victims of harassment. Brad Gage, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, confirmed agreements were reached between the city and Richard Benson, Marjorie George, Beverly Starleaf and Tina Staffon. The plaintiffs, whose cases were resolved individually, alleged they were subjected to a hostile work environment and harassed based on factors including age, race and sex. Assistant City Atty.

Karen S. Kim BURBANK -- A lawsuit filed in Burbank Superior Court in March by passengers of the Southwest Airlines flight that crashed last year at Burbank Airport was moved Wednesday to a federal court in downtown Los Angeles at the request of Southwest's attorneys. Though the plaintiffs' attorney, Clark Aristei, said the move could negatively influence his clients' jury, since a federal case requires a unanimous vote instead of a majority vote, attorneys for Southwest said the airline has agreed not to contest charges of negligence and that a jury trial probably won't be necessary.